Newlyweds are More Likely to Pile on the Pounds, Studies Say

Health & FitnessMarch 13, 2018

Happiness leads to weight gain, research shows – which is why newly married couples tend to pile on the pounds in the first few months of their new lives together. Experts are saying that the happier you are with your partner, the more weight you’re likely to gain with time. But is there a way that you that you can be content in your relationship and keep a slim waist at the same time?

The Happier You are The Fatter You Become

Study says that being in love may start showing on your waist after marriage

A research conducted in the Southern Methodist University in Dallas to find a relationship between weight gain and happiness in married couples, found out that of the likelihood of gaining weight after getting hitched was more if the couples were happy in their relationship. The study was conducted with 169 couples where they had to rate their happiness regularly over the course of four years.

At the end of the experiment, their weight change was plotted against their satisfaction rate and clear relationship was observed: with increase in one unit of satisfaction, most coupled gained an average of one pound per year.

Married Women Tend to Put on More Weight Than Their Spouses

Couples who gain together, stay together

Change in marital status can affect women and men differently. Even though happier couples gain more weight than their single counterparts, the weight gain is not equal in both genders. The study’s findings showed that women gained more weight than their spouses in the first two years of marriage.

One of the reasons for an increased weight gain in women was the stress that came along with the child birth and looking after the family. Another reason for women’s rapidly expanding waists after marriage is due to their unhealthy eating habits before the wedding. Most brides feel the pressure to look good on their big day and therefore go on crazy diets to lose weight fast. The result of these crash diets is a rapid increase in weight once these women start eating normally again.

Unhappy Couples Feel More Conscious About their Looks

Experts think that happy couples tend to care less about the way they look since they know that that their partner will not try to find love elsewhere. On the other hand, couples who felt insecure in their relationships were more likely to watch their figure and gained little weight over time.

One of the researchers, Dr. Meltzer, speculated that people who are unhappy in their relationships tend to see weight loss as a positive feature of their appearance and they pay very little attention to its implications on their health. Similarly, happier couples must also educate themselves about how weight gain can have a negative impact on their health instead of focusing on the outer appearance.

Staying Fit After Marriage – Is It Possible?

Exercising with you spouse can be a motivational factor for losing weight

Women can avoid a sudden weight gain after marriage by following a healthy and active lifestyle before and after marriage. Crash diets, grueling exercise routines and weird weight loss fads may help you fit into that wedding dress on your big day but the lost weight will come back to haunt you after the honeymoon is over. Unhealthy weight loss techniques can be harmful for your metabolism and can have long-term impacts on your health such as decrease in energy and increased vulnerability to illnesses.

Despite all your efforts to lose weight before the big day, post-wedding and honeymoon phase often sends your diet and exercise routine out of the window. Couples tend to get more relaxed about their eating habits since they no longer have the motivation to look good. They also indulge in stress eating due to post-marital issues that contribute to weight gain.

If you want to keep your pre-marital slender curves years after the marriage, lounging around the house isn’t doing you any favors. Try talking your spouse into joining a gym with you or do more outdoor activities together such as daily morning walks or occasional hikes. Having a partner to motivate you during workouts will help you reach your goals faster so that you can stay fit even after having a few children!